I'm currently working on a book-length project on journalism in 1963. Similar to other year studies, this book makes the case for 1963 being the pivotal year of twentieth century journalism.

Slides used for a presentation at the Joint Journalism Historians Conference, New York City, March 2013.

It is the year in which Americans first turned in greater numbers to television for their news than to newspapers. This transition was helped along by a 114-day newspaper strike in New York City, the main issue of which was the introduction of disruptive technologies that threatened the jobs of typesetters. New York television stations filled in the void, expanding their fifteen-minute newscasts to thirty minutes. Network executives, who had previously been dubious about the public's appetite for that much TV news, took notice. By September, both CBS and NBC expanded their network newscasts to 30 minutes, starting the great television news competition between Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley. The Civil Rights Movement was at its height in 1963 and television was there to capture the snarling police dogs, the bombings, the assassinations, and demonstrations. When planning demonstrations, movement leaders took advantage of television's appetite for conflict. The country's first television president helped shift the power from the printed press to the electronic media. As he did so, John F. Kennedy's press relations soured as reporters accused him of "press management." We now know JFK went as far as getting the CIA to help plug leaks. The president's assassination pushed the young medium to mature quickly, as a worldwide audience gathered around their televisions for four days in November 1963, creating a communal mourning experience not seen again until September 2011.